Florence Ellinwood Allen - Legal Career

Legal Career

By her own admission, she was not a success at first. She only made about $25 during her first month, and all she could afford for her office was two chairs and a borrowed typewriter. As she told a reporter in a 1934 interview, "I had no clients. And I had no money. But I had great hopes." However, in order to become successful, what she needed was some experience, so she did volunteer work with the local Legal Aid Society, where she not only got that experience but got involved with an important case about suffrage. As a child, her mother had taken her to see famous suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Anna Howard Shaw giving talks about women's rights. And the belief that women should be treated as equals under the law undoubtedly resonated with her even more as a result of her struggles to be taken seriously as an attorney. She became even more interested in politics, and more committed to the cause of women's suffrage. She was active in the Women's Suffrage Party and began challenging local laws that limited women's participation in the political process. And she argued one particular case that went all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court: thanks to her efforts, she won the women of East Cleveland the right to vote in municipal elections. During this time, she also became involved in another cause, one that would be important to her all of her life: disarmament and the quest for world peace. For Allen, this was personal: both of her brothers died while serving their country during the first World War.